Under seizure: Selangor MMEA officers taking control of the foreign fishing vessel that was suspected of sneaking illegal immigrants out of the country in Morib.
PORT KLANG: The Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has seized a foreign fishing vessel suspected of sneaking illegal immigrants out of the country.
The Indonesian boat was detained at about 1.10pm on Thursday, said state MMEA director Maritime Capt Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh.
He said the agency’s patrol boat KM Danga detained the Indonesian vessel about 2.4 nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Gabang in Morib.
“Upon inspection we found 42 individuals believed to be Indonesians – 30 men and 11 women as well as a one-year-old infant – hiding under a blue canvas in the boat,’’ he said.
None of those detained had valid identification documents, he added.
“They are suspected of having committed offences under the Immigration Act and Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom), respectively, for not having valid identification documents and smuggling migrants out of Malaysia through an ungazetted route,” Abdul Muhaimin said.
He added that all those who were detained, as well as the boat, were brought to the Selangor MMEA headquarters jetty before being turned handed to the agency’s investigation officer.
He said the MMEA would continue to be on alert and ensure that the Malaysian waters was not encroached.
